Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 263 The war begins

The Great War Begins

The horses touched by the phosphorescent flames thrashed wildly, while those unlucky enough to escape the fire were stung by the pungent, acrid smoke, their faces flushed, throats and eyes burning with excruciating pain. They lost control, running wildly in all directions, some even lunging towards the phosphorescent flames themselves.

Meanwhile, the second batch of one hundred phosphorus wax bombs had already arrived, landing at a distance of about 170 zhang. This was precisely where the cavalry that had charged forward had just reached. In this way, two hundred catapults took turns hurling phosphorus wax bombs in two waves. The phosphorus-filled fire zone, a hundred zhang wide, relentlessly burned the lives of those who rushed into the flames, and kept thirty thousand light cavalry at a distance of one hundred and eighty zhang.

Soldiers stuck to the phosphorescent wax fire could not extinguish the flames; the more they fought, the more they burned. The only option was to separate the burning parts. Some soldiers with burned hands and feet could be cut off, but those whose bodies were on fire could only be burned to ashes.

Fortunately, the general gave the order in time, and only three thousand cavalrymen were lost in the first wave of attack.

The light cavalry commander was also a seasoned veteran. After analyzing the situation with his staff, he quickly devised a second sprint plan.

He ordered the light cavalry to be divided into eight teams, with each team spaced ten zhang apart during the charge. This would allow them to avoid most of the phosphorus wax bullets, since the phosphorus wax bullets were thrown and not very accurate. Each team of cavalry would have a ten-zhang distance between them during the charge to avoid the explosion of the phosphorus wax bullets.

Even if some are hit, the troops behind can quickly evade and avoid getting entangled. Phosphorus wax bombs have a limited burning time, so their effectiveness is greatly reduced once the enemy general has taken action. However, among all ranged weapons, phosphorus wax bombs are the cheapest, only slightly more expensive than ordinary arrows, so the Great Xia side is not stingy with their use. Even with only one-tenth of the initial effect, the firing of phosphorus wax bombs has not stopped.

Even with the change in attack strategy, only 70% of the light cavalry were able to pass through the dense barrage of phosphorus wax bombs; at least three out of ten cavalrymen were left behind by the phosphorus wax bombs.

However, after passing through the phosphorus-wax bullet attack, what awaited the light cavalry was the Demon-Slaying Arrows of the Great Xia soldiers. The Demon-Slaying Arrows had a range of about 120 zhang, similar to ordinary arrows. Although the light cavalry could now also fire their own arrows, the soldiers defending the city were positioned in advantageous terrain and could fire with precision. Their accuracy was several times higher than that of the running cavalry.

Moreover, the cavalry charging in eight columns was simply outnumbered and unable to suppress the soldiers on the city walls. Amidst a series of explosions, the cavalry that finally made their way over were riddled with magic-piercing arrows. Limbs and corpses littered the area beneath the walls. Meanwhile, the defending soldiers suffered virtually no losses.

With nearly a third of the light cavalry lost, the crossbowmen, under the cover of the light cavalry, broke through the phosphorus-wax shell blockade. The massive crossbows suffered even greater losses crossing the phosphorus-wax shell zone; less than half were able to pass. Although these giant crossbow bolts could reach a range of nearly two hundred feet, the thick smoke obscured their vision, making it difficult to aim accurately. Blind firing might result in killing their own light cavalry. Furthermore, the strong, pungent odor of the smoke made it impossible to use crossbows in that location.

Before these crossbows, which had just emerged from the thick smoke, could even settle into place, the long-awaited demon-slaying bullets came hurtling in. With each loud bang, a crossbow was blasted to pieces, and soldiers, cavalry, and warhorses within a thirty-foot radius were sent flying into the air.

The Demon-Slaying Bullet is the true weapon of the Great Xia Empire. The explosion of each Demon-Slaying Bullet is equivalent to an attack from a low-level magic crystal cannon. A low-level magic crystal cannon has a kill radius of two to three zhang wide and one hundred zhang long. The Demon-Slaying Bullet's blast radius, however, is thirty zhang in diameter. Within ten zhang, there is almost no chance of survival; within twenty zhang, the fatality rate reaches 70%. Its actual effect is even better than a low-level magic crystal cannon, since no one would stand in front of a magic crystal cannon waiting to be blown up. Therefore, the kill radius of a typical magic crystal cannon is only about half that of its outermost area.

After a barrage of anti-magic bullets, and with Dong Wei's 300 crossbows and powerful bows rendered useless, and over 10,000 light cavalry killed or wounded, the first day of the border siege of Linxiang Town ended. The Great Xia Empire emerged victorious.

The battles at the border of Wangxiang Township were also quite different. The Great Xia Empire won with very few casualties. Wu Yi's army also suffered over 10,000 casualties and retreated in defeat.

Light cavalry has always been the mainstay of the Zhenglan Kingdom's forces. In every battle, light cavalry has achieved the greatest results. Therefore, in the force that Wu Yi dispatched this time, light cavalry accounted for one-third, amounting to as many as 100,000, while the other heavy cavalry, crossbowmen, infantry, and logistics personnel totaled 200,000. Now, after two days of attrition, only a little over 30,000 light cavalry remain, a loss of 70%.

Apart from the light cavalry, the crossbowmen were almost completely wiped out. Of the more than 3,000 men and 300 crossbowmen, only a few dozen remained. Only the infantry and logistics suffered relatively minor losses. The 250,000-strong army that arrived in Jingzhou suffered heavy losses in just two days, with fewer than 170,000 soldiers still available. Moreover, the majority of them were infantry and heavily armored soldiers.

After suffering a defeat, Wu Yi's army retreated ten miles and set up camp near the canyon post road.

The Xia troops from Wangxiang Town and Linxiang Town did not pursue their victory. Instead, they chose to build fortifications and strengthen their defenses.

Fearing a nighttime attack, both sides took proactive nighttime defense measures. The two battlefields were quiet that night.

However, Jingzhou, which Dong Wei left to defend with 10,000 troops, was not so quiet. Just as night fell, in the mountains 30 miles away from Jingzhou, an army of 10,000 men was quietly making its way towards the city.

Meanwhile, within the city, the advisors of the Wu Yan family, rescued by Mo Yuming, began their retaliatory actions. They secretly contacted their family soldiers to prepare for an uprising against Dong Wei's rule. Originally, Jingzhou City, located on the edge of Zheng Lan Kingdom, had many business dealings with Zhongyuan City, and the people of the two cities enjoyed harmonious exchanges. However, Wu Yi insisted on sending troops to attack Zhongyuan City. As citizens of Zheng Lan Kingdom, they couldn't object to the king's decision and had to endure any personal losses, cooperating only if possible, since they were under his control. But after Wu Yi's army arrived, they disregarded their feelings, imprisoning them on trumped-up charges and seizing all their property in the city. This enraged them. What was the difference between this and banditry? Since you've put us to death, we no longer need to consider the relationship between ruler and subject; we have no choice but to rebel! This is what you forced us to do! Of course, their ability to unify their thoughts and rebel was largely due to the brainwashing efforts of their savior, Mo Yuming. They were also unaware that their young master had already become someone else's puppet city lord.

In the dead of night, with the cooperation of the Jingzhou garrison, the Falcon Guard silently seized control of the Jingzhou city gates. The Great Xia soldiers, who had been waiting outside the city, entered without hindrance. By the time the Wu Yi soldiers defending the city reacted, the Great Xia soldiers were already upon them. Faced with the elite Great Xia soldiers, wielding powerful Xuan Iron weapons and possessing superior Xuan Gong cultivation, the Wu Yi soldiers were utterly slaughtered. Few who resisted survived. In less than an hour, the 10,000 Wu Yi soldiers were completely annihilated, with 2,000 dead, 3,000 wounded, and 5,000 surrendering without resistance. The Great Xia flag was planted atop the Jingzhou city walls.

Meanwhile, Dong Wei and his advisors were in the military camp discussing all night how to attack the city and how to reduce the casualties of the soldiers.

In the end, Dong Wei made a desperate decision, a decision that could be made to fight to the death. He couldn't afford to fail; failure meant the decline and even annihilation of the Dong family. He knew he was a crucial move in Wu Yi's strategy, something Wu Yi had been preparing for for countless years. If it weren't for the incident of the Feather Palace punishing Wu Ji, Wu Yi was prepared to personally lead this war.

Wu Yi's plan was ambitious: after capturing Zhongyuan City, he would directly send troops to Yinfu, and after occupying Yinfu, he could launch attacks from both sides to capture Chidi, and then take Xijing. In this way, a quarter of the Long Kingdom's territory would be under his control. After all, in terms of land area alone, the three largest prefectures on the entire Long Kingdom's map were Zhongyuan Prefecture, Yinfu Prefecture, and Chidi Prefecture. Adding Xijing, the combined area of ​​these four prefectures was almost comparable to the size of his Zhenglan Kingdom.

The Central Plains City rebelled and declared independence, but Marquis Wu Ji of the Great Chi Kingdom was unable to subdue it. This gave Wu Yi, who had long coveted the territory, an opportunity. However, just as he was about to act, Wu Ji became a criminal, and the other five kingdoms directly joined the fray to divide up the Great Chi Kingdom. This forced Wu Yi to divert his attention to dealing with the other feudal lords.

Originally, with nearly ten times the troops, capturing Zhongyuan City should have been a sure thing. But they never expected the ruler of Zhongyuan City to be so powerful, and to have already laid out a plan and been waiting for a long time.

If this war is lost, Wu Yi's years of planning will be destroyed, his national strength will be greatly weakened, and he will be subject to the control of the Xianghuang Kingdom. Therefore, Dong Wei has no choice but to take a desperate gamble: no matter how great the losses, as long as he captures Zhongyuan City, he, Dong Wei, will have a way to survive.

That very night, all the soldiers attacking Wangxiang Town were withdrawn, and the entire force was focused on attacking Linxiang Town. Although Wangxiang Town was smaller than Linxiang Town, its fortress was built on a hillside, located on the edge of the Monster Mountain Range, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack, giving it a natural geographical advantage. In contrast, although Linxiang Town had more defenders and a more fortified fortress, its open terrain allowed for a much wider area to attack, making it easier to conquer.

The next day, the fastest light cavalry still led the charge, but this time they were divided into three routes, each with 10,000 cavalrymen. This was all the light cavalry Dong Wei could still deploy. The central route headed straight for the city gate, while the other two routes attacked the left and right flanks. Following closely behind were the heavy cavalry, and the slowest infantry brought up the rear. Less than a hundred crossbows and powerful bows remained, mixed among the infantry, who were responsible for transporting the crossbows to their positions.

When Wu Yijun reappeared in sight, the garrison in the neighboring town was already prepared. The phosphorus wax bombs that had been replenished overnight had been distributed.

After the first volley of phosphorus wax bombs was launched, more than a dozen winged beings suddenly flew out from the enemy ranks, swirling in mid-air and slicing the thrown phosphorus wax bombs into pieces with wind blades. These were Dong Wei's last eleven winged puppets, plus four Heavenly Rank guest elders, totaling fifteen people. He divided them into three teams, following the three cavalry routes, specifically to deal with the phosphorus wax bombs in the sky.

This tactic proved quite effective. The biggest drawback of the phosphorus wax bullets was their slow speed and predictable trajectory, as they were launched from catapults. Each phosphorus wax bullet, roughly the size of a watermelon, was easily shattered by the flying puppets and celestial warriors while airborne. After firing two volleys, the Great Xia soldiers stopped. After all, firing more would only result in them being shattered in mid-air, so it was better not to fire them at all.

However, to think that breaking through the phosphorus wax bullet defense line meant victory was assured would be a grave mistake. When the light cavalry and heavy infantry charged to within 150 zhang of the city wall, the soldiers on the wall raised their crossbows, and volleys of demon-slaying arrows rained down on these reckless cavalrymen.

Mo Yuming never skimped on weapons in battle; he used whatever was best. He sold ordinary arrows as commodities, only using the most lethal Demon-Slaying Arrows. When the Demon-Slaying Arrows came, even Heavenly Rank cultivators had to dodge. The four Heavenly Rank guest elders and eleven winged puppets didn't dare to take a step forward, let alone try to block the Demon-Slaying Arrows.

One by one, the cavalrymen charged forward on their steeds, but the faster they ran, the faster they died. The Demon-Slaying Arrows were impossible to block with weapons; they could only be dodged. When a Demon-Slaying Arrow exploded in front of them, even a Heavenly Rank cultivator couldn't withstand it.

Amidst the explosions of the Demon-Slaying Arrows, the charging cavalrymen were all blown to pieces and killed instantly. But even this couldn't stop the advance of these light and heavy cavalrymen; one group fell, and another rose. Although the Great Xia soldiers fired the Demon-Slaying Arrows as if they were free, there were only a little over a thousand archers on the city walls, far too few compared to the army of over a hundred thousand.

Wu Yi's soldiers continued their advance fearlessly through the mountain of corpses, slowly making their way towards the city walls. The once mighty force of 30,000 light cavalry was now almost entirely wiped out, and the heavily armored soldiers who had charged ahead suffered even greater losses, with nearly 10,000 warriors falling forever on this battlefield.

The mere 150 zhang distance seemed like an insurmountable chasm, its path strewn with the corpses of soldiers. At this moment, the Crimson Shadow Guards, who had been steadfastly holding their ground on the city walls, finally couldn't hold back any longer and made their move. With a deafening roar, a powerful demon-piercing bullet exploded thirty zhang from the city wall. Instantly, flames soared into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and a powerful shockwave swept across the surrounding area.

The hundreds of heavily armored soldiers who rushed to this spot were instantly engulfed by the terrifying explosion, and even those wearing thick and sturdy armor could not escape.

Although some of the heavy armor wasn't directly shattered by the explosion, the soldiers wearing it had already had their internal organs ruptured by the shockwave, dying instantly and lying dead on the spot. Blood and severed limbs splattered everywhere, staining the land crimson, a truly gruesome sight.